Car-brake mechanism.



PATBNTED MAR. a, 1903.

v J.- SHELTON. CAR BRAKE MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1902.

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ATTORNEY! N0.722,154. PATENTED MAR. 3, I903,

.LSHELTON.

GAR BRAKE MEGHANISM.- APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. 1902.

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WITNESSES.-

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FFICEQ JOHN SHELTON, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

CAR-BRAKE MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION part of Letters Patent No. 722,154, dated March 3, 1 903.

Application filed July 15,1902. $614211 No. 115,670. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LJOHN SHELTON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Car-BrakeMechanism; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in car-brake mechanism, my objectbeing to provide a brake construction in which brakebeams for supportingthe shoes are not employed, thus doing away with a fruitful source ofaccidents and providing what I term a beamless-brake mechanism.

The ordinary brake-beams sometimes become loose and fall upon the track,derailing the car. Vith my improved construction the connections andappliances are located well above the track to prevent them from comingin contact with objects thereon.

My present invention may be termed an improvement on theconstruction'set forth in my previous application, filed March 17, 1902,Serial No. 98,640, all of which will be fully understood by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated an embodimentthereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom View of a car equipped with myimproved construction. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 isan inside end view, the wheels being partly broken away to betterdisclose the features of my improvement. This view is obtained bylooking in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. eisaperspective view of a brake-head mounted upon the live-lever of myconstruction. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the upper portion of thedead-lever, showing its guidebracket. Fig. 6 is a rearview of thebrakehead looking into the slot engaged by the offset of a lever.

anism.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the live-lever, and 6 the dead-lever, of myimproved mech- These levers occupy a position inclined or extendingobliquely to the vertical plane of the car-wheels and brake-heads. Eachlever is provided intermediate its extremities with a horizontal offsetwhich is circular in' cross-section. This offset is designated 5 on thelive-lovers and 6 on the dead-levers and is clearly indicated by fulllines in Fig. 6 and by dotted lines in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 of thedrawings. Journaled on the offset of each lever is a brake-head 7,adapted to receive and hold a suitable brake-shoe, which is readilydetachable. This brakehead construction is best illustrated in Fig. 4.As shown in this view, the head is provided with a horizontal slot7,which receives the part 5 of the lever, the latter being held in placeby a key 7. It must be understood, however, that the head may be held inplace on the lever in any suitable manner or by any other suitablemeans. The lower extremities of the levers 5 and 6 are pivotallyconnected by a rod 8. The upper extremity of each lever 6 passes througha guidebracket 9, attached to the truck-bolster 10. This lever extremityis held in the bracket by a pin or bolt and is adjustable to take up theslack of the brake-shoes, the said bracket being provided with extraopenings for the purpose. The upper extremity of each lever 5 passesthrough a guide-bracket 18, attached to the bolster, and is connectedabove the bracket with a chain 19. This chain passes around a pulley 20,mounted on one extremity of the brake-rod 12, the extremities of thechain being respectively connected with the upper extremities of the twolive-levers belonging to the same truck. One of the brakerods 12 isconnected at its inner extremity or its extremity remote from the pulley20 with an ordinary cylinder-lever 13,0f an air-brake system, as theWestinghouse. This lever is actuated bythe piston of the brake-cylinder14, which also is of ordinary construction. The other brake-rod 12 isconnected with a lever 15,'usually termed the floating lever of anair-brake system. The levers 13 and 15 are connected by a rod 16. Thebrake-heads are suspended from a bottom bar of the car by U-shapedhangers 17.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of myimprovedair-brake mechanism will be readily understood. As the piston of thebrake-cylinder is forced outwardly its stem 14 acting on the lever 13and on the lever 15 through the connecting-rod 16, actuates thebrake-rods 12 and forces the shoes of the brake-head 7 against thetreads of the car-wheels, as will be readily understood. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a car-brake,the combination with the brake-heads, of live and dead levers occupyinga position inclined to the vertical plane of the brake-heads, each leverhaving a horizontal offset intermediate its extremities, upon whichoffset, a brake-head is jonrnaled, a rod connecting each pair of leverscomposed of one live-lever and one dead-lever, below the shoes, andsuitable means connected with the upper extremities of the live-leversfor applying the brakes.

2. In a car-brake, the combination with th brake-heads, of live and deadlevers occupying a position obliquely or inclined to the vertical planeof the brake-heads and car-wheels, each lever having an offsetintermediate its extremities, upon which offset a brake-head is mounted,a rod connecting each pair of levers composed of one live-lever and onedeadlever, below the shoes and outside of the car- Wheels, and suitablemeans connected with the live-levers for applying the brakes.

3. In a car-brake, the combination of the brake-heads each of which isprovided with a horizontal slot open at the rear, live and dead leversoccupying a position inclined to the vertical plane of the brake-headsand car- Wheels, each lever having an offset intermediate itsextremities, the said offset engaging the slot of its correspondingbrake-head, a key inserted in the brake-head to hold the lever in placeon the open side of the slot, a rod connecting each pair of leverscomposed of one live-lever and one dead-lever below the shoes andoutside of the car-wheels, and suitable means connected with thelive-levers for applying the brakes.

4. In car-brake mechanism, the combination with the brake-heads, andmeans for suspending the same from the bottom of the car, of live anddead levers, each of which is provided with an offset intermediate itsextremities, upon which offset the brake-head is journaled, the saidlevers extending obliquely or occupying a position inclined to thevertical plane of the brake-heads and car-Wheels, a rod connecting eachlive-lever with its adjacent dead-lever below the brake-heads, a guidewithin which the upper extremity of each dead-lever is adjustablymounted, and a rod connecting the upper extremities of the live-leversof each truck with the brake-operating devices, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN SHELTON.

Witnesses:

DENA NELSON, A. J. OBRIEN.

